Magnet

Magnet is a funded artist-in-residence program hosted by Speciwomen welcoming artists from outside of New York to spend time and make work in the city. Our headquarters are set up as a home and research center based in lower Manhattan. Each artist will have access to a shared live-in space, the Speciwomen Library and a private studio space for the duration of the residency.

Speciwomen commits to partnering with select institutions, labs, and other artist spaces to help curate a meaningful stay for each artist based on their needs and desires. Our commitment is to provide a supportive environment where artists can delve into their work with unencumbered time, developing their practice and fostering relationships.

For its inaugural edition, Speciwomen is pleased to partner with 99Canal on providing a private studio space for artists in residence.

To support Magnet’s inaugural season, you may click here to make a tax-deductible gift to Speciwomen today.

For general inquiries please email us at info@speciwomen.org

For partnerships inquiries please email us at partnerships@speciwomen.org

2025 Edition

Olukemi Lijadu
In residency: January – April 2025

Olukemi Lijadu is a visual artist, DJ and music producer who performs under the moniker KEM KEM. Lijadu engages with sound as a transcendent conduit of memory and reconnection for the fractured African diaspora and work as a form of accessing Atlantic memory. A trained philosopher; she holds a masters degree in Philosophy from Stanford University. She lives and works between London and Lagos. Over the years, her work and performances have been held at ICA London, Tate Britain, Frieze Cork Street and Mariane Ibrahim Chicago. As a DJ, KEM KEM has performed in and for the Luma Museum, Tiwani Gallery, The Nigeria Imaginary Celebration at the 2024 Venice Biennale and at Corvi-Mora. She was selected as a 2024 Villa Albertine resident where she is currently researching and developing a body of work around the relationship between West African and Chicago House music.

Ashima Yadava
In residency: April – July 2025

Ashima Yadava is a conceptual documentary photographer, curator and printmaker. With the camera as her conduit, Ashima believes in art as a means to social activism and reform. Born in New Delhi, India, Ashima now lives in San Francisco, California . She is currently a California Arts Council Fellow and Director of Community and Programming at Authority Collective. Her work has been featured in publications including NPR, National Geographic and Mother Jones and exhibited around the world. She is a Director’s Fellow from the ICP, New York. Ashima is the founder of Huq : I Seek No Favor. Huq brings together over 100 artists and thinkers to respond to the abortion ban.

Isabella Rjeille
In residency: November 2025 – January 2026

Isabella Rjeille is curator, writer and editor. She works as curator at Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) and is currently working as a co-curator of the Sixth New Museum Triennial, opening in 2026 in New York. At MASP, she has curated and co-curated monographic exhibitions including “Lia D Castro: Everywhere and Nowhere” (2024), “Melissa Cody: Webbed Skies” (co-organized with MoMA PS1) (2023- 24), “Cinthia Marcelle: By Means of Doubt” (2022), “Maria Martins: Tropical Fictions” (co- organized with Casa Roberto Marinho, 2021), “Djanira: Picturing Brazil”(2019), “Lucia Laguna: Neighborhood” (2018), among others, as well as the collective exhibition “Feminist Histories: Artists After 2000” (2019). Previously, Rjeille served as Curatorial Assistant for the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo (2016).She has also collaborated with artist- run spaces as well as autonomous cultural centers in São Paulo, such as Casa do Povo.